Wales could break 50% recycling barrier by summer

Wales is now recovering 48% of its muncipal waste putting it firmly on track to reach its 2012-13 statutory recycling target of 52%.

Official figures released by the Welsh Assembly show that during 2011-12, 48% of municipal waste was recycled or composted in the country, a 4% increase compared to the previous year.

Welsh Environment Minister John Griffiths welcomed the findings and congratulated local authorities for their role in achieving the result. He also said he was "hopeful" that the 50% barrier would be broken before the summer was out.

"One reason for our good progress is that every local authority in Wales offers weekly food collection services," he said.

"The key thing now is that we continue to build on our recycling success so that we can meet our challenging targets of 70% recycling by 2025 and zero waste by 2050."